Of Mice and Men
by AoYokai
Summary: AU: Nezumi, who left Tokyo to study in Oxford, now lives a simple life as a teacher in London. This time of peace ends when he receives messages from an old friend of his, calling him to come back and keep a promise they made. (T for future violence and minor suggestive themes)
1. Odyssey

**A\N: English is not my native language, I'm sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes that might be ahead. **

**It's *fan*fiction; therefore- I'm a fan and not the actual owner of No. 6, or any other piece of work that is mentioned in the story.**

* * *

Act I: Odyssey

Nezumi never really liked Tokyo. He didn't hate it, either; he was just indifferent about the place. Actually, he didn't feel anything toward any place, so he never felt obliged to visit Japan after he finished college, four years ago. He just stayed in England, got a job as a teacher, and lived his plain, boring life peacefully. It wasn't much, but this simple lifestyle fit Nezumi quite well.

Being a teacher was not that bad, actually. The pay was reasonable, he got to talk about his beloved books, and he had vacations quite often. While many people thought that as an English Literature graduate from Oxford, Nezumi could have done much more with his life, he couldn't care less. Not living up to his potential didn't bother him, and he preferred to keep the drama in the world of fiction.

But there he was, in a taxi, in Tokyo. When he first read the emails that asked him to come back, he almost dismissed them instantly. He didn't want to go back to Tokyo, even if it was for a few days. In addition, the author of these messages was someone Nezumi would rather forget. Unfortunately, he didn't forget that person, and worse, he didn't forget the promise they made.

"Have a good day, sir!"

The taxi drove away, leaving Nezumi staring at the five-star hotel that was standing before him. He gently put his luggage down and took a crumpled piece of paper out of the back pocket of his jeans. He suppressed a sigh; the address was correct. He crammed the little note back into his pocket, picked up his luggage, and walked inside.

A woman smiled at him from the reception desk.

"How can I help you, sir?" Like the rest of the female employees in the hotel, her uniform included a buttoned-up shirt with short sleeves, a blue vest, a black skirt, and a blue bowtie. Nezumi snorted mentally. He hated the hotel the moment he saw it, but now he hated it even more.

"Yes, my name is Nezumi."

"Just a second, sir." The woman typed a few things in her computer. "Could you wait just a moment, sir," she said, and disappeared through a door behind the reception desk.

A few minutes passed, and the woman came back, but before Nezumi could ask for his room, another woman interrupted him.

"Nezumi?" asked the woman.  
She was young, younger than Nezumi at least, and had brown eyes and short hair whose color matched her eyes. She was wearing a suit with a matching skirt and high-heeled shoes, which made her look more professional than the receptionist. Yet she didn't seem very formal.

"It's nice to finally meet you." She reached her hand to shake his, "My name is Safu."

"Yes, whatever." Nezumi shook her hand hurriedly.

"Just like the stories," Safu said. Nezumi couldn't tell whether she was amused or thoughtful, but she most certainly was not upset at his rudeness.  
"I bet you want to cut to the chase," she continued eventually. "Follow me. Leave your luggage here; it'll be taken care of."

Nezumi took a deep breath and followed Safu, who turned around and walked away without checking whether he was behind her or not. He could only hope Safu was showing him the way to his room; he was exhausted. All he wanted to do was to crumble into a bed with a book. Alone. All by himself. But he couldn't lock himself in his room to recover from the horrors of the flight, not now at least, because although he prayed for rest more than anything at the moment, he knew Safu was taking him to his host.

Safu led him to the top floor and then through a maze of hallways. The carpets hid any sign of actual floor, and the pictures on the walls were probably more valuable than Nezumi himself. It was obvious that they were in an area that was off-limits for guests. It was the private property of the hotel's owner—the owner who invited Nezumi over and who had absolutely hated this kind of ostentation when Nezumi had just moved to England, eight years ago.

Safu walked through the corridors silently. Her pace was steady, and she walked without looking around much, as if she had the whole floor memorized.

Eventually, they reached an elegant wooden door, with a sign that said "Waiting Room" in golden letters.

"We're here," Safu said, and put her hand on the rounded knob.

The room was spacious, with cream-colored couches, an ivory coffee table, and windows that replaced one of the walls. On the other walls were a few TV screens that were turned off and showed nothing but darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, Nezumi saw a bar in the far part of the room. On one of the couches sat a slim figure, wrapped in clothes in the same color as the couch.

"Long time no see, Nezumi."

"Hardly long enough." The tanned woman smirked bitterly at his answer, and Safu, who stood behind her with her arms crossed, rolled her eyes.

"As unpleasant as always," the other woman said calmly, which only added to Nezumi's anger.

"Old habits die hard," he said mockingly. "But it looks like old dogs can learn new tricks, right, Inukashi?"

Inukashi's calm expression turned sour, and she closed her eyes as if to remind herself to stay calm.  
"Shut up," she finally said.

"No thank you."

"Now listen you little rat—" Inukashi stood up suddenly, arching her back and baring her teeth. Her appearance now corresponded much more closely to Nezumi's memories of her, although she was thinner and wearing clothes that didn't seem like they were used to wash the floor before she put them on.

"Inukashi." Safu smiled behind her and tried to calm her down, in vain.

"I don't want to hear anything coming out of your rotten mouth until it's absolutely necessary, hear me?! Nothing!"  
She sat down, frowning.

Safu sighed.

"You look pretty lively." Nezumi sat on the couch across her.

"Disappointed?" Inukashi asked with a sad grin.

"Quite a bit. But I can take care of this little problem."

"Ha! You wish." Inukashi leaned her back into the couch.

"Seriously now, though." Nezumi crossed his arms. "What's with the walking suit?"  
He gestured to Safu's direction with his eyes.

"Excuse me for walking." Safu raised an eyebrow, but Inukashi and Nezumi ignored her completely.  
"I'll have as many walking suits as I want, mind your own business," Inukashi said, though both of them knew Nezumi was referring to more than just Safu.

"Should we cut straight to the point, then?" Nezumi asked.

"Well yeah, about that…" Inukashi began to stumble on her words.

"You're early," Safu said, seeing Inukashi couldn't make her point.

"Early?"

"You see? You won't be able to fulfill your promise anytime soon," Safu explained.

"Then… What am I doing here?" Nezumi asked, understanding the horrible reality Safu was presenting to him little by little.

"I didn't think you'll agree so soon, okay," Inukashi defended. "I thought it'd take months and months to convince you to come!"

"So, am I supposed to sit here and wait?"

"You'll be going back to London. Now that we know you'll come when the time is right, we have no problem sending you back." Safu tried to calm the two down.

"Ridiculous," Nezumi snorted. "When am I going back?"

"Your flight is in two weeks," Safu said.

"Two weeks?!" Nezumi could feel his blood boiling, and he stood up.

"Yes, there weren't any tickets available for an earlier flight," Safu explained.

"So I'm stuck here for two whole weeks?!" Nezumi asked, trying to emphasize just terrible the situation seemed from his point of view. He never wanted to leave London. He never wanted to come back to Tokyo. He didn't want to be there, not for so long.

"Stop acting like a spoiled child," Inukashi said.

"Oh? So now I'm a spoiled child," Nezumi asked her angrily.

"You weren't here for eight years, Nezumi. Eight years! I don't have to make excuses, especially not for you!" She stood up as well, and Safu showed no signs of trying to stop her.

"Good, because I'm not interested in your excuses anyway," Nezumi said. "I'm just disappointed, that's all. I thought you were different, but it seems like I was wrong."

"That's enough!" Safu yelled.

All three of them knew Nezumi crossed the line, especially Nezumi himself, who felt a small pinch of guilt but brushed it off immediately. Both he and Inukashi sat back in their seats, followed by silence.

"Oh well, it's not like I need to go back for my job or anything," Nezumi said, trying to defuse the awkward situation. "It's summer break, anyway."

"Everything is good, then." Safu smiled happily, trying to help. "We'll arrange a private plane to fly back to Tokyo when you'll be needed."

"Oh, so you have a private plane as well?" Nezumi asked with mockery.

"Of course," Safu answered.

"Then, why can't it take me back to London?"

"Because it is currently needed for domestic flights, and won't be available for international ones in the next few months."

"So why won't you buy a new one? You surely have enough money, right?" Nezumi asked jokingly.

"Because we don't need another private plane," Safu explained. She obviously didn't get the joke. "And you can't forget that we would need to hire another pilot. With all due respect, we don't intend to spend that much money on you, even if we can afford it."

Nezumi looked at Safu with disbelief.

"You're a real blockhead, aren't you?" He stood up and looked at Safu with a patronizing expression.

"Hey!" Inukashi yelled at him from her seat on the couch, regaining her mood. "Don't talk to my walking suit like that!"

Safu gave Inukashi a warning gaze and she sank back into the couch.  
"For a person whose field of expertise is literature," Safu smirked, "your insults are pitiful."

Inukashi grunted, trying to hold in her laughter, but piped down when she received another warning gaze, this time from Nezumi.

"For someone whose field of expertise is wearing suits," Nezumi responded, "you're quite rude."

"Only mirroring your behavior, seeing that basic politeness is beyond your understanding," she answered.

"Is mirroring the only thing you're good for?"

"At least she's good for something!" Inukashi yelled before Safu could open her mouth.

"Oh yeah? What can you do, other than barking?"

"I think I'll show you your room now." Safu said, deciding to end the conversation.

"Yes," Nezumi agreed. "That'd be for the best."

Again, Nezumi followed Safu throughout the hallways. Because he didn't recognize any of the paintings on the walls around them, he assumed they were going in a different direction this time. Only halfway through their trip, Nezumi realized how tired he was. _Inukashi hasn't changed much, has she,_ he thought. That fact made him happy, though he would never admit it or remember it, because in a few minutes he was sleeping soundly, forgetting the walk from the waiting room to his own room.

• • • • • •

_Knock knock…_

Nezumi wrapped his blanket over his head. Not a single cell in his body wanted to get up. The windows were covered with thick curtains, not allowing a single ray of light make its way inside, and the room had a sweet scent of clean sheets. Nezumi didn't know what time it was and he didn't care. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to wake up at an unreasonable hour, stay in bed awake for awhile, then grab a book, read, and go back to sleep, also at an unreasonable hour. He thus decided to ignore that annoying sound that tried to wake him.

_Knock knock…_

Nezumi groaned and tore himself from bed. He turned on the lights and regretted it almost immediately when he rubbed his eyes, which hadn't awakened quite yet. The room was too colorful. The curtains, which did their job perfectly by keeping the room dark, didn't look like black, deformed figures anymore, but like silky rivers of red fabric. The walls were painted in red as well, but it was not as deep as the curtains, which had white, gold and silver patterns embedded on them. The carpet on the floor was somewhere between the deep red of the curtains and the soft red of the walls, but it was still red. _Whoever designed this room had a terrible taste,_ Nezumi murmured in his head. The sheets on his bed were white, at least, but they had delicate decorations embroidered on them. _Incredibly terrible taste_, he repeated.

_Knock knock…_

"I'm coming!" he yelled. He strode angrily toward the door and opened it with a similar attitude, facing Safu with a saturnine expression.

"What?" Nezumi did his best not to yell at her, but failed.

"I'm here to wake you up," she answered, as if it was obvious.

"Well, you did," Nezumi said. "Now leave."

"I'm not an alarm clock, you know," she said. "If my only purpose was to wake you up, I would have sent room service to do it. Or called your room. There are _so_ many ways to wake you up that don't waste my time or effort."

"What do you want, then?" Nezumi tried to keep himself from strangling her.

"I don't really want anything…" Safu stared into the space above Nezumi, trying to think of a better word to explain that she was only doing her job.

"Will you just get to the point?!"

"Yes, of course," she said, as her train of thought was disrupted. "As part of my duties, I'm supposed to be in charge of your wellbeing during your time in Japan."

"There's no need." Nezumi tried to brush her off and shut the door, but Safu continued persistently.

"I intend to do my duties," she insisted.

"Not my problem."

"If you think I won't make it your problem as well, you're wrong," she announced.

"Are you threatening me?" he asked, almost amused.

"If you choose to see it that way, then yes," she grinned.

"So what do you want?" Nezumi surrendered.

"I already told you, I don't want any—"

"Yes yes. What is the purpose of this wakeup call?"

"I rented you a car," Safu explained.

"I don't need a car. I'm not going anywhere."

"But I've already rented it."

"So? Cancel the order, then."

"You don't understand," Safu said, frowning. "You _will have_ a car for your visit. It's part of our hospitality, get it?"

"In that case, the car is just going to rot in the parking lot for two weeks." Nezumi crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"You're free to do whatever you want with it."

"So, why do you need me?"

"Someone needs to get it," Safu said, speaking as if Nezumi was a child.

"And you're suggesting that 'someone' is me?"

"Exactly."

"How am I supposed to get there, without a car?" Nezumi questioned her in the same patronizing tone.

"I've got it taken care of, but you'll still need to come in person." Safu smiled.

"Doesn't Inukashi have some other suckers to do this stuff for her?" complained Nezumi.

"She does." Safu answered.

"Then why do I have to go?"

"It's as you said. She has suckers to do this stuff _for_ _her_." Entertained, Safu looked at the angered Nezumi and turned to leave. "Be ready in fifteen minutes."

Nezumi didn't need much time to ready himself. He pulled a shirt from his trolley case and grabbed the pants he wore the day before. He entered the bathroom to shower, again cursing Inukashi's "finest lodging." Other than the mirror, every single thing in the room was made from white marble with golden decorations. Nezumi bathed as quickly as he could, dressed himself, and left back to the main room with a hurry, as if lingering in the marble room any longer might infect him with some terrible disease.

Nezumi looked at the clock, which hung on one of the walls. He knew he had some time left before Safu would come back to take him from the safety of his room. He held back a sigh. He lay flopped down on the bed, stared at the ceiling, and wondered what he should do in the few peaceful minutes he had left. He straightened up into a seated position. Of course he didn't want to go with Safu, but because he had to, he wanted her to return as quickly as possible so he could get the whole thing over with. Besides, there was very little he could do in such small amount of time. After what felt like forever but was only a minute, Nezumi got out of bed.

_Oh well, _he thought, _if I'm gonna stay here for whole two weeks, I'll have to organize at some point anyway. And it's not like I have anything better to do…_

He looked at the room, which was terrifyingly big. By the windows, there were two chairs and a coffee table. There was a door beside them, which Nezumi opened. The room that appeared before him was twice as big as the bedroom. It had a kitchen, a wide table with a few chairs, a sofa, a television, a few shelves, and a desk with a computer on it. Nezumi shut the door. _So the main door goes through the bedroom instead of… whatever that room is, _he complained. _Who is the idiot who designed this place?_

Nevertheless, he carried his suitcase to the other room. The closet was in the bathroom, but Nezumi's priorities were different. He stood in front of the shelves in the kitchen/living room/study and began throwing his clothes in different directions until he could reach the books beneath them. He put the books in the shelves carefully, but without any order or logic. Because he brought so many books with him, he managed to put only half of them on the shelves by the time Safu returned.

She led him to the elevator, and pressed the button that said "-3." After an incredibly awkward elevator ride, they both walked into a huge underground parking lot, which, considering the fact that it was occupied only by luxury cars, probably belonged to Inukashi alone. In the middle was a small, blue car and a man, who leaned against it. He was young, probably about Safu's age; he had brown hair and beautiful eyes. He was skinny and very pale, and he was wearing casual clothes and a stupid smile on his face.

"Hello," he smiled. Nezumi was not certain whether the smile was intended for him or Safu.

"Thank you for backing me up again," Safu said with a sigh.

"No problem," the guy reassured her.

"Nezumi, this is Shion." Safu gestured at Shion's direction. "He'll take you from here."

"It's nice to finally meet you," he said and shook Nezumi's hand.

"Yeah, let's just get this over with." Nezumi pulled his hand back and walked to the car. He sat inside and looked at Shion and Safu, who were too busy with their friendly conversation to pay him any attention. He rolled his eyes, praying for this day to end soon. Eventually, Shion entered the car as well.

He started the car and began to drive it toward the exit, not overwhelmed at all by the awkward silence or Nezumi's earlier hostility.

"Inukashi said a lot about you." Shion tried to start a conversation with the person beside him. "Well, maybe not 'a lot', she only said you're a 'blasted bibliophile with a pretty voice'."

Nezumi didn't respond. He was too busy looking outside the window and being as unfriendly as possible so that strange kid would stop talking to him.

"How did you two meet?" Shion tried to keep their very one-sided conversation alive, with little success.

"We went to the same high school," Nezumi replied, hoping the answer would satisfy the younger's unexplainable need to talk.

"Oh, you've been friends for so long," he asked with wonder, only angering Nezumi a little more, with both his persistence and his question.

"We're not friends," he answered, speaking as coldly as possible. Shion, however, seemed to lack the social understanding that was required to understand Nezumi's attitude. But then again, Nezumi was the last person to talk about social understanding.

"Sure you are," he said. "If you're not friends, why would you come all the way from England?"

"We made a promise. I'm only here to keep it," Nezumi found himself explaining, although he had no intentions to converse with that airhead just a few seconds ago. He still didn't have any of these intentions.

Shion giggled.

"What?" Nezumi asked, obviously pissed, and then reminded himself that he didn't want to talk with that kid.

"It's just, that I thought you'd be more romantic," he said with a stupid, wide smile on his face.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know, you came all the way from England, Inukashi is your friend from high school, you're all serious and cold and stuff…" Shion talked as if he was in his own world.  
"It seems like perfect settings for a romantic person. But looks like you're actually a tsundere."

"A tsundere?" Nezumi couldn't help but to tear his gaze from the window and look at Shion. "Your vocabulary isn't very developed, now is it?"

"Nothing wrong with calling you a tsundere if you're a tsundere." Shion insisted. Nezumi looked back at the window.

"You're quite queer, you know that?"

"That's not a nice thing to say."

"It wasn't meant to be nice," Nezumi said, hoping that this time Shion would be offended and stop talking with him. But he was not.

"You might want to put that tsundere attitude on a leash or something. Someone might take you seriously," Shion told him.

"_That's the whole purpose,"_ Nezumi whispered, and then said aloud, "you should do something about your vocabulary, honestly."

"Only if you'll do something about your tsundere attitude."

"Stop calling me that."

"Why?"

"Because it's stupid."

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about." Shion parked the car. "We're here."

Shion left the car, Nezumi right after him. They talked with the manager, who brought Nezumi's new car in a matter of seconds. Nezumi's day just became worse and worse; his new car was painted gold and had an open roof. Nezumi could swear that Inukashi had told Safu to order that specific car on purpose. _At least I'm not really going to use it,_ Nezumi thought.

"Well, it seems like I can go now." Shion looked at the new car, satisfied. He pushed a small piece of paper into Nezumi's hand. "If you need anything, call me."

Nezumi stared at the little note that contained a series of numbers. _As if I'll ever call you, idiot._

"Oh, by the way," Shion called from his own car, which was already started and ready to go. "Safu is too busy with her duties, so she asked me to take over as your babysitter."

Shion drove away, and Nezumi's eyes followed the car until it vanished. He was horrified.

_Oh no, _he thought.

Nezumi had a feeling that he was going to have a terrible relationship with this guy.

* * *

**A\N: So… that was the first chapter :D It'll probably take me a very long time to publish the next chapter… Over a month sort of long time. I'm sorry ^^" Thanks a lot to color2413 who helped me with my English :) See in a month! **


	2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

**A\N: English is not my native language, I'm sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes that might be ahead.**

**It's *fan*fiction; therefore- I'm a fan and not the actual owner of No. 6, or any other piece of work that is mentioned in the story. **

**I know I said a month I'm sorry but hey at least this chapter is super long :D Thanks again to color2413 who helped me with my English:)**

* * *

Act II: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Nezumi walked to the library with a book in his hand, a daily habit of his. It wasn't a big library, but it was quiet and it had some books, which was more than what he could find in his house. These factors made the school library the perfect place for Nezumi to be alone in the end of the day.

School was over more than half an hour ago, and for that reason Nezumi was surprised to find a small, tanned figure sitting curled in the corner of the room. Nezumi could recognize this person from miles away: torn male uniform, unkempt hair, slim body. It could only be Inukashi, which only surprised him even more.

He wouldn't consider himself her friend, and she definitely wouldn't consider herself his, but he did know her better than the rest of the students. They had only eaten lunch together on the roof a few times, not because he wanted to, but because both of them were famous in a very bad way around school.

They never talked except during their first few meetings, when they fought to determine who would get to eat on the roof. They ended up just eating there together without a word. Other than that, all of Nezumi's knowledge of Inukashi came from the rumors around school: she was a rebel and the daughter of a rich hotel owner. It was a dangerous background for a teenager in high school; it brought both envy and fear.

Nezumi wasn't much better than she was, and he was pretty sure he knew what Inukashi heard about him from the same sources. But after hearing the nonsense about themselves, neither of them took the rumors about the other seriously.

"Inukashi?" Nezumi asked. She lifted her head and looked at him, but buried it in her knees again after she identified the caller.

"What are you doing in here?" he tried again, but when he saw that this attempt was also futile, he turned to one of the distant desks in the library.

"Wait," Inukashi said without looking at him, "are they gone?"

"I assume," Nezumi said, not really knowing who 'they' were, "we're the only ones in school." He sat by the nearest desk, his front facing Inukashi but his eyes concentrating on the book.

"You're not going home?" she questioned, and Nezumi snorted at the sound of the word 'home'.

"Not until the library closes."

"Aren't they going to punish you?" Inukashi asked.

"Not more than yours will punish you," answered Nezumi. "Mine don't really care."

"Mine are used to it, so I'm fine too," Inukashi said.

Nezumi kept reading, but eventually spoke again, "I've never seen you here before."

"It's because this is my first time," Inukashi explained irritably.

"So why are you here today?" asked Nezumi.

Inukashi sighed. "My dad sent some men to get me from school. I had to hide."

"Any special reason?"

"For him probably, which means it's bullshit for me."

"I see." Nezumi fell silent. After a while, he closed his book and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Inukashi asked.

"Ice cream," Nezumi mumbled. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

••••••

"Shion!"

A shout woke Shion from his dreams, tearing him from his thoughts.

"Umm… what?" he mumbled as he tried to regain his awareness.

"Are you listening?" Safu asked in a scolding tone.

"No," Shion admitted. "I'm sorry; what were you talking about?"

"About the story _The Hostess_, and the conjecture that there is an intelligent race with no physical form living among us," Safu reminded Shion.

"What about it?" he asked.

"That this theory puts the super-natural and god in a very interesting light," she explained.

Shion brought his cup to his mouth and took a sip then asked, "do you mean _The Last Question_, where god is presented as the remains of a super computer created by humans who lived in the universe before ours, which died away?"

"No, I'm still talking about _The Hostess_," Safu replied. "It said that the snake from the _Fall of Man_ is actually a reference to that race, and that the snake lost its legs because they were no longer necessary.

"I prefer the theory presented in _All of the Troubles in the World_," she continued. "If a supercomputer needs to support all humanity, it will become conscious and then sink into a crushing depression that will lead to its own suicide."

"It's not contradictory," Shion answered.

"How exactly?" Safu asked, receiving no reply from Shion.

"Shion?" Still no response.

"Shion!" Safu yelled, managing to wake him up once more.

"What? Yes," he said, almost automatically.

"You're daydreaming again," complained Safu.

Shion hurried to apologize. "Sorry, what were we talking about again?"

"Whether a supercomputer would commit suicide before developing into a machine with no physical form that we would call 'God'," she reminded him, the second time that day.

"Yes, that," Shion said after regaining his place in the conversation. "Well, to begin with, Multivac was the computer that suffered from depression, not the supercomputer from _The Last Question_. They had probably fixed that problem by then. And in addition, it was said that if Multivac committed suicide, it would take only a few months to fix him."

"How can you possibly fix the fact that all of the problems and suffering of every single person on Earth are gathered into one lone consciousness?" Safu argued, "And besides that, it was also said that the civilization would collapse during these few months because of the dependence on Multivac."

"There must be a way to cure Mutivac's depression," Shion insisted. "It's probably just beyond our understanding as humans now. And even if the civilization collapsed, some people would survive and carry on their legacy."

Safu picked up her own drink before speaking again, "You can't use these arguments; there's no way to prove that they're accurate."

Shion stayed quiet.

"Shion?"

Shion didn't answer her.

"Shion!"

"What?" he asked. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Safu gave him a strange look. "What's your problem today?"

"There's no problem," he assured her.

"There is," she insisted. "You're in your own world, more than usual. Analyzing Isaac Asimov's works never bored you before."

"It's not boring!" Shion defended. "I'm sorry; I'll stay focused from now on."

But Safu was not the type to give up easily, especially when Shion was trying to hide things from her. "If it's not boring, why do you space out every five minutes?"

"No reason," Shion lied.

"Both of us know I can insist longer than you can deny, so why won't you save us the trouble and just tell me what's on your mind?"

Shion sighed, Safu was right of course. Safu was always right, at least when it came to him.

"I was just thinking about it and… Nezumi hasn't called me. Not even once," confessed.

"And your point is…?" Safu asked.

"It's been a week; what if something happened to him?" Shion said with obvious concern.

"I highly doubt it," Safu replied, unmoved. "From what Inukashi told me, the fact that he's not calling is the proof that nothing has happened to him. That's how he is; he likes to be alone."

"No one likes to be alone," Shion countered.

"Debatable," Safu answered.

"No," Shion persisted, "it's not debatable. Humans are social animals."

"There are always exceptions," Safu argued.

Shion took his phone out of his pocket and announced, "and yet, I'm texting him."

"You'll just bother him," Safu said, not really trying to actually stop him.

"I don't care," Shion replied.

"Why does it bother you so much?" Safu asked.

_Why indeed?_ Shion thought, but he couldn't come up with an answer. _Scientific curiosity,_he figured. He was drawn to this new creature in his life, a person unlike anyone else he had met before. This excuse didn't fit properly, like pants that were a little too small, but Shion chose to go with it until he found a better reason.

"I don't know," he admitted at last, "but it hardly matters, doesn't it?"

Safu smiled and scooted a little closer to Shion.

"I suppose you've reached the stage where you decide your logic would be a bad influence on your judgment?"

"Maybe," Shion smiled back.

"If that's the case," Safu said, "do as you wish. Both of us know I can't change your mind when you're at that mode."

••••••

"Nezumi!"

Nezumi stood with his back leaning against the outer wall of a coffee shop that was fifteen minutes away from the hotel by foot. His black hair revealed that he hadn't showered in a few days, and he wore the same messy shirt and torn jeans he had worn on his first meeting with Shion because he hadn't worn anything else besides his pajamas since. He held a faded book in one hand and kept his other hand in the pocket of his jeans. It has been a few seconds before he realized someone was calling him and a few additional seconds before he tore his gaze from the book and bothered to look for whoever called him.

It was Shion. Unlike Nezumi, he looked great. He seemed fresh and energetic, his brown hair was clean and neat, and what stood out most was that he was wearing a suit. Nezumi abandoned his former position to walk toward Shion, who waved happily in his direction.

"You're late," Nezumi grumbled.

"Sorry," Shion apologized between his heavy breaths, "I was delayed a little bit."

"Nice suit," Nezumi remarked, and for a mere second Shion thought it was actually an honest compliment, "but I think you're underdressed for this restaurant. They won't let you into a simple coffee place unless you're wearing at least a tux."

"I was going to change," Shion pouted as they walked to their table, "but I already told you, I was delayed."

"Whatever," Nezumi said as they sat down. They were both silent at first, Nezumi because he didn't care, and Shion because it didn't bother him.

"So," Shion tried to open a conversation the moment the waitress disappeared with their order, "what were you doing this week? Did you travel around in Tokyo?"

"No," Nezumi talked as if to the teaspoon he rolled between his fingers. "I was born here; there isn't much I haven't seen."

"Wasn't there anything you wanted to see again?" Shion questioned.

"Why would I want to see the same place twice?" Nezumi shot back.

"From the look of this book," Shion answered, "you've read it more than just twice."

Nezumi pursed his lips and didn't reply.

"Anyway, why would you bring a book to a meeting?" Shion said.

"Hey, fair is fair," Nezumi exclaimed. "In the end, you were late."

Shion pulled his shoulders. "Not all of us are in summer break, you know."

"Then you shouldn't have set a meeting with someone when you have work," the other complained, but the truth was that he was a little surprised. For some reason, he didn't imagine Shion as a person whose work includes wearing suits, at least until he remembered that Shion was friends with Inukashi's walking suit, Safi, or Sifu, or something like that.

"Well first, I didn't think it would take so long," Shion defended, "and second, it wasn't work, it was an interview."

_Ah._ That was the first thing that went through Nezumi's mind, which perplexed him more than just a little, because he always had something to say or think, no matter what was the subject. But now he was left wordless by a strange feeling of relief and the sudden realization that hit him, and he couldn't say he liked that.

"As what?" Nezumi overcame his confusion almost immediately.

"An engineer," Shion answered.

Nezumi tilted his head to the side a little bit and asked, "of bridges and stuff like that?"

One of Nezumi's less lovable traits was the fact that he wasn't really bad at anything. Even though he specialized in literature, he was still talented in technology and science. That led to bad relations with the math and science teachers in the school where he worked, because all of them hated being proven wrong by a teacher who has nothing to do with the subject.

"Of the environment and stuff," Shion corrected, but saw that Nezumi's slight expression of wonder had became a total loss of understanding, "I specialize in ecological engineering," he explained.

"It sounds like something you just came up with," Nezumi said. His smile seemed slightly sardonic.

"It most certainly is not." Shion's expression soured.

Nezumi chuckled briefly, still smiling slightly as he leaned his chin on his hand and looked toward the other side of the room. In mere seconds, even that smile vanished, but Shion kept staring at him.

"What?" Nezumi asked after a few moments of silence, which made him feel incredibly uncomfortable even though Shion seemed to have no sense of time.

"Eh?" Shion widened his eyes as if he woke from a dream, then shook his head, blushed a little, and turned his attention to the table. "Nothing."

He couldn't tell Nezumi that in fact, it wasn't nothing, that he found Nezumi's laughter mesmerizing. Actually, 'mesmerizing' wasn't the word he used mentally, but more like 'refreshing like a light wind', or something else that would have caused Safu to roll her eyes and tell Shion to leave the poetic similes to people who do poetry for living and actually know what they're doing. Shion didn't do it much, but when he did, Safu would raise an eyebrow or laugh. Not the mocking sort of laughter, of course. Shion liked Safu's laughter very much, but he couldn't help but to notice the difference between her laughter and Nezumi's.

Safu's laughter was familiar to Shion. It was honest and hearty, but more than once Shion felt like there was something else—some other feeling he couldn't name. Nezumi laughter was the exact opposite; rather than hiding something, it felt like it was the first time Nezumi was truly open to him, or at least partially, even if it was only for the short seconds while he laughed.

"You're seriously creepy," Nezumi remarked, and Shion didn't get the chance to defend himself because their coffee arrived.

"What are you planning for the week you have left?" Shion asked.

"Planning?" Nezumi repeated, "Nothing, of course."

Shion pouted. "You have a whole week in Tokyo and you plan to do nothing during that week? Don't you think it's a total waste?"

"I already told you," Nezumi replied, "I was born here. There isn't much to do or see here I haven't done or seen already."

"And I already told you," the younger said irritably, "that it doesn't mean you can't do or see these things again. You say you were born here; don't you have some family or friends to visit?"

Nezumi didn't answer for a while, but eventually he said, "there hasn't been someone like that in a very long time."

Shion couldn't revive the conversation after that point.

••••••

For over half an hour Nezumi didn't move an inch. He stood with total concentration before the shelves that contained his books, struggling to find a solution for his problem. His flight was in two days, which meant he soon had to pick which books he would carry on and which books he would check as baggage.

Usually Nezumi's challenge was to pick only a small number of books out of his extensive collection, but now, in the midst of his most beloved books, he couldn't pick even one to entertain him during the flight. He didn't feel an urge to read any of them. It was incredibly frustrating because this was the first time that he had ever faced a problem like that.

Nezumi didn't want to admit it, but he hadn't been in the mood for reading over the past few days. An observant person would have recognized that this problem began after Nezumi's last meeting with Shion in the coffee shop. But Nezumi didn't possess these skills, at least not when it came to observing reality, and he preferred to think of other excuses, ones that had nothing to do with Shion.

_Maybe doing nothing but reading for whole two weeks was a bad idea after all__, _he thought as he flopped onto his bed helplessly. He stared at the ceiling as if staring at it would eventually restore his desire to read. But it didn't—Nezumi waited and waited and no title popped into his mind. He turned onto his belly and reached his last resort: his cellphone.

**To:** Shion

_I need new books. Where is the nearest bookstore?_

Nezumi preferred not to ask Shion for help, but he wasn't very familiar with the area, so he didn't have much choice. He didn't have much time to regret this decision, because Shion answered in mere seconds.

**From:** Shion

_Here's the address of the best bookstore nearby the hotel :) Need help? Want me to come along?_

Nezumi sighed. _Why would I need help?_ Then he looked at the map and almost sighed once more.

**To:** Shion

_It's not that close__._

A moment later, his phone vibrated again.

**From:** Shion

_It's the best one in anywhere around the hotel… Besides, it's nothing by car :D_

Nezumi clicked his tongue and reviewed his options. He could drive, but that meant using the hideous car Inukashi got for him. He considered walking, but it took exactly a tenth of a second to discard the idea. Use public transportation of any sort? Not him.

**To:**Shion

_Could you give me a ride?_

This time Shion took a few minutes to answer, and the waiting bothered Nezumi more than it should have. He pushed that aside when he finally received another answer.

**From:**Shion

_Sure! Is tomorrow good for you? I can pick you up at 7 :D_

This time, Nezumi had quite a lot of time to regret his decision.

••••••

The ride to the bookstore was nicer than the last time Nezumi and Shion had shared the same car. It was also nicer than their last 'date', where Nezumi was torn from his room after a week without a ray of sunlight or a shower. This time, Nezumi looked much more respectful; he showered, wore new clothes, and brushed his hair properly, which made it the first time Shion was able to look at him thoroughly, as Nezumi hadn't been at his best when they first met. Shion almost choked on his breath when he first saw Nezumi entering the car; the cleaner version of Nezumi was…well, _beautiful_ was the only word Shion could think of.

Shion kept quiet this time. _Quiet, not silent,_ Nezumi decided, because it created a comfortable atmosphere for both. This surprised Nezumi. After all, Shion was usually talkative, but Nezumi chose not to read too much into it. The atmosphere was far too pleasant and relaxing for Nezumi to bother himself with it, and it seemed like Shion was thinking the same.

When they entered the store, it struck Nezumi that Shion had great taste in bookstores. The store was big but not too big; it was large enough to have an extensive collection but small enough to give a private, intimate feeling. It was quiet and clean, and the only significant light source came from the open windows between the shelves, creating a calm, natural atmosphere.

Most of the books were in Japanese, but Nezumi spotted a section of Foreign Literature and turned to it instantly. Before he managed to take a step towards it, a light touch on his shoulder stopped him.

"You don't visit Japan every day. Shouldn't you check out the Japanese sections instead of foreign ones?" Shion's voice came from behind his back.

Nezumi turned around to argue with that arrogant kid who dared to tell him what to read, but the moment he completed his turn and faced Shion he realized he had nothing mean to say to him for his remark.

"The used books section always has some treasures in it," Shion offered, pointing to a few shelves in the other part of the room and then walking to the English section himself. Nezumi grumbled as he walked where Shion directed him.

Shion was right; the used books section did have books of every kind. Some weren't very different from any other book in the store, but others had unique covers or annotations from their previous users. While Nezumi didn't personally like to make notes in books, he could spend hours reading annotations by others. He found some high Japanese literature, and even a book or two in English, all of them ancient looking, which was Nezumi's greatest weakness when it came to picking books.

He sank in some sort of trance, standing between the full shelves, completely oblivious to his surroundings, until he finally noticed Shion gazing at him as he leaned against the wall.

Shion hasn't seen many people concentrate like this. His mother would do it when she baked. Safu would do it when she faced an incredibly complicated problem at work, or when she heard an interesting idea that she wanted to analyze herself. Safu had said that sometimes he did that too. But for some reason, Nezumi's trance seemed different.

Shion knew Nezumi specialized in literature, but Shion didn't know that Nezumi loved books that much; it seemed like he was in a whole different dimension. He was completely isolated, just him and the books. It seemed to Shion that for Nezumi, the rest of the world had simply ceased to exist.

When Nezumi eventually noticed Shion, Nezumi was a bit embarrassed; he couldn't help but wonder how long he had been standing there .

Shion rose from his spot on the nearby wall. "Found anything?"

Nezumi showed him a pile of six books on the floor without a word. "You?"

Shion lifted the book in his hand to show Nezumi its cover. "Safu told me to read this."

Nezumi tilted his head to the side and said, "I thought she was the type to read only paperwork and reports."

"It's kind of offensive, don't you think?" Shion remarked and added, "Safu reads more than I do, especially on business trips when she has nothing to do on the plane or at the airport. I don't have much time to read, so she tells me what's worth my time and what isn't."

"How come you have more time than she does?" Nezumi asked, "Isn't she a super-important-business-something?"

"She is, but she's also a genius in… well, everything," Shion explained. "She devotes quite a lot of time to doing, what she calls, 'sitting and waiting for everyone to move their fat asses already'."

"She sounds like a great person," said Nezumi.

Shion snorted. "Like you're one to talk."

Nezumi ignored his comment, picked yet another book, and scanned it quickly with his eyes.

Nezumi finally bought eight books. After they left the bookstore, Shion asked him if he was really going to read all of these books and Nezumi answered with a dry "of course," hiding his anticipation.

The return to the hotel wasn't as quiet as trip to the store.

"So, you're going back to London in two days, right?" Shion asked.

"Yes," Nezumi answered without interest, going through one of the books he just purchased. "I'll be flying back the day after tomorrow in the afternoon."

"And when you return," Shion hesitated, "it'll be only to fulfill your promise to Inukashi?"

Nezumi tore his gaze from the book, "Do you know about that?"

"I don't know what you promised Inukashi," Shion admitted, "but I do know under what circumstances it'll happen."

Nezumi didn't respond, looking back at his book. Shion, however, couldn't bear the silence. "It's sad to think that our next meeting will be under these circumstances."

Nezumi chose to ignore him again.

"Maybe you could stay?" Shion eventually suggested.

"No," Nezumi replied immediately.

Shion insisted, "Why not?"

"Because," Nezumi began, but then fell silent and shut the book in his hands close, "I don't need to explain myself to you."

Shion sighed. "I want you to stay."

Nezumi made a sound that was either a snort or a short laughter, maybe both on the same time. "Why would you want something like that?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," Shion answered assertively.

Nezumi mutely stared at him. "Correct," he finally said, "but then I have no reason to listen to you."

"You won't listen to me anyway," Shion argued.

Nezumi chuckled and agreed. "Also correct, but that way you at least get to try."

Shion was obviously starting to lose it. "It doesn't count as trying if you're not willing to listen."

"I am willing to listen," Nezumi said, "you're the one who's not willing to talk."

"You're willing to hear, not listen." Shion parked near the hotel. "There's a difference. And you're only hearing me because you have ears, not because you're willing to do it."

Nezumi unfastened his seatbelt and left the car with the books in his hands.

"Think about what I said," Shion said from the open window of his car, and then drove away from the hotel.

"Obnoxious kid," Nezumi hissed and entered the hotel.

••••••

Nezumi couldn't remember the last time he was so pissed off. Although he bought new books only two hours earlier, he couldn't concentrate on any of them. When he first noticed these books at the store he couldn't wait to go back to the safety of his room to read them, and now he was re-reading the first paragraph for the fourth time because he couldn't absorb the words.

_I don't need to explain myself to you._

Nezumi closed his book. _Get the fuck out of my head._ He turned with his back to the ceiling and buried his face in his pillow. He refused to lose to _that_, to Shion.

_You're willing to hear, not to listen__,_ Shion's voice echoed once again in Nezumi's head.

_Brat__,_ Nezumi sighed into the pillow. _Acting almighty and smart__. _

Nezumi lifted his face, regaining his ability to breathe properly. He turned in bed once again, this time onto his side, hugging the pillow helplessly.

_I forgot to ask him whether he got the job or not,_he thought, his head light with sleepiness. _I wonder if Inukashi would know__…_ He shook the idea out of his head; he'd rather die than ask Inukashi something like that. _Safu would probably know__. _He didn't know where this thought came from, because he couldn't ask Safu anyway, but he was too tired to bother himself with that question and it soon disappeared as if it never existed.

_Shion… met Inukashi through Safu? Or is it the other way around?_ He had to struggle with this question for a while, because he couldn't imagine Shion and Safu becoming friends. But then, he reminded himself, he didn't know anything about Safu. He didn't know anything about Shion, either. This idea bothered him more than it should have.

He couldn't imagine Inukashi and Shion becoming friends either. Inukashi hated children, especially stupid, naïve children like Shion, who had never hated a person before and who couldn't even imagine her life style. He might have not known Shion, but he knew Inukashi; or at least the person Inukashi was before he moved to England.

_Maybe he's not that different from me and Inukashi,_ he thought. _Maybe he has a terrible relationship with his parents. Maybe he was bullied as a kid. Maybe he was completely alone. Maybe he would spend as much time as possible away from home. Maybe he doesn't even have a home._

From there, his thoughts wandered even farther. _Why did he study ecological engineering? What sort of books does he read in his free time? What is his relationship with Safu? Why is he so stubborn? Why won't he go away even when I push him with everything I've got? Why does he want me to stay?_

Slowly, the fact that he was lying in bed and thinking about Shion sank in, and Nezumi felt embarrassed to his bones. He lost to Shion. He lost, and now he was lying in bed and thinking about that stupid brat instead of reading. _Humiliating._

Luckily, Nezumi's pitiful state was disturbed by his phone, which rang once to notify Nezumi that he had received a new text message.

**From:** Shion

_Because you insist on leaving, I recommend that you spend your last day with Inukashi. I know you're tsundere, but you're also smart enough to know how much this opportunity is worth._

_Is Shion… upset?_ Nezumi wondered, _because I'm leaving?_

He threw the phone on his bed and returned to his former position. He passed the next few minutes in an internal debate, but in the end lost to himself and picked up his phone again. He dialed.

"Nezumi?" a perplexed voice answered.

"Are you available now?" he asked. "I want to talk for an hour or so, face to face, without the presence of your walking suit." In all of his years, Nezumi met only one person whom he could trust not to pass judgment when Nezumi suffered a moment of weakness, and that person was Inukashi.

"Getting all sentimental now?" she teased, but added hurriedly, "Come to the room where we met on your first day in here."

Nezumi hung up the phone, jumped on his feet, put shoes on, and left the room. It was hard to navigate, mainly because the corridors seemed all the same and the last time he took this route, he could hardly tell his right from his left because he was barely awake, but he found the room eventually.

Just like him, Inukashi also gave the impression that she had just gotten out of bed, which gave Nezumi a nostalgic feeling. He sat on the sofa before Inukashi, his elbows on his knees, and considered how to start the conversation. Inukashi didn't urge him; she knew the process very well and preferred to patiently enjoy the nostalgic feeling herself. She embraced her crossed legs, looked at him, and waited.

"I… I never thought I'd need to keep that promise," he admitted.

"Are you trying to chicken out of this?" she asked with obvious hostility.

"No," he assured, "I just never thought it would happen."

"Is that what's bothering you? Because if I could have done anything about it, I would have done it by now instead of calling you."

"It's one of the things," Nezumi said. "I wasn't around for a while. It feels like we need to catch up a little."

"Ha!" she laughed. "Are you even really interested?"

Nezumi didn't reply and Inukashi snorted. "You do realize I didn't want to take after my father, right?"

Nezumi shrugged his shoulders. "I figured."

"But since my father was quite, umm… famous, it became the talk of the business world," she explained, "and of course, I didn't give a single fuck. But then Safu came. She was fresh meat, just got out of college three weeks before we met. She graduated earlier than she was supposed to and had zero experience. She found me in one of these holes where I used to hide.

"She said that she was new, that she had never done any actual management work before, and that we could learn about the world of business together. She told me that it's fine if we mess up, because I don't give half a crap about this stupid company. And I sat there, drunk, thinking to myself that it must be the easiest and quickest way to send this company to hell and get rid of it.

"But Safu, damn her, 'learn about the business world' my ass! Although I did check over and over again to verify that it _was_ her first job, I'll bet everything I have that she's one of the top ten in her field in the whole world. She promised to take my father's company down and instead she brought it to a peak that exceeded even my father's dreams. And the worst? She made me show interest in the company."

Nezumi smiled.

"And you?" Inukashi asked. "What have you been up to during these eight years?"

"Nothing," he said. "I specialized in the field I love, I found a bearable job, and, well, lived. Nothing like the excitement you went through."

"And I assume you've done nothing but reading in the past two weeks."

Nezumi silently verified her assumption by nodding.

Inukashi took a deep breath and suggested, "what about showing her your respect?"

Nezumi turned his gaze away. "She wouldn't be happy to know I think a piece of stone has some importance just because it's near her body and has her name on it."

"So you just sat in your room for two weeks like the bibliophile you are?" she asked with disbelief.

"Your doghouse is comfortable," he answered, "although I did get out twice because that airheaded friend of your walking suit dragged me out."

Inukashi laughed. "Yes, that's Shion for you."

"How is he even connected to you and Safu?" Nezumi couldn't stem his curiosity.

"They've been friends for years," Inukashi explained. "I don't know all of the details because Shion doesn't like talking about it, but it looks like Safu saved him from bullies as a kid."

_So he wasn't raised on a silver platter after all,_ Nezumi thought.

"I can't see why anyone would want to bully him though," Inukashi wondered. "Sure, he's freaking annoying sometimes, but not enough to be bullied for it. He's like a puppy you just want to wrap in a blanket 'cause he's a total airhead."

_Shion… a puppy?_ Nezumi cursed Inukashi because he knew this similarity would never leave his mind, ever. "More like 'strangle him with a blanket', but I'll admit I can't see a big group of kids bugging him because of that attitude."

Inukashi made a sour expression. "Strangling Shion? What else do you have on that list? Burning kittens? Kicking puppies? Drowning bunnies?"

"Let's agree to disagree," Nezumi decided.

"Alright," Inukashi agreed, "what did you guys do together?"

"We had coffee and bought some books. Well, I was the one that asked for the books," he admitted.

"And knowing you," Inukashi said with a ridiculously wide smile, "you weren't charmed by the naïve airhead attitude?"

"I don't like his type," Nezumi complained.

"You don't like any type," Inukashi corrected.

Nezumi crossed his hands over his chest. "He's irritating. Why do you hang out with him?"

"If you'd spend some time just getting to know him, you'd understand," explained Inukashi.

They both fell silent, and Nezumi considered what she said.

_I want you to stay__._

Nezumi took out his phone and looked at it.

_I know you're tsundere._

Nezumi thought for a moment and then typed.

"We'll see about that," he told Inukashi.

"About what?"

"About Shion."

**To:** Shion

_I told you, stop calling me tsundere__._

"Cancel my flight," he said, "I'll stay until I've fulfilled my promise."


End file.
